Suchir Balaji was an artificial intelligence researcher and former employee of OpenAI, where he worked from 2020 until 2024. He gained attention for his whistleblowing activities related to artificial intelligence ethics and the inner workings of OpenAI. Balaji was found dead in his home on November 26, 2024. He worked as an engineer for Sam Altman, building AI until he decided they were committing crimes. He was found dead shortly after, and his death immediately ruled a suicide. Crime scene photos suggest murder. His mother, Poornima Ramarao, spoke with Tucker Carlson, who said it was one of the most shocking stories he had heard in a long time.
Balaji’s mother, Poornima Ramarao, alleged her son was killed because of his knowledge about OpenAI’s operations.
“New York Times named my son as a custodian witness… He had documents against OpenAI,” Ramarao stated, adding that Balaji had recently returned from a vacation in Los Angeles before his death.
“This is not just about copyright—it involves much more, including matters that could potentially harm society. This isn’t just about my son’s death. There are harmful practices that need to be evaluated and thoroughly investigated,” Ramarao said.
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The family is seeking to become estate administrators to access sealed documents held by The New York Times. Ramarao has called for a federal investigation, questioning why medical examiners have allegedly refused to meet with the family.
The San Francisco Police Department maintains its initial suicide ruling.
Watch:
Extremely concerning
pic.twitter.com/ze1mmlIMdD— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025
The Suspicious Case
She said that the authorities, at around 2 am on November 22nd, knew that the 26-year-old AI expert was dead, but they did not disclose it to the family until 5 am.
“The police first called me at around 1 am. However, they refused to enter my son’s apartment, saying they were waiting for two more officers. They didn’t even allow me to enter the apartment. I was worried to the core. Later, they asked me to go home and called a white van. It is then when I suspected that my son had died,” Balaji’s mother said, adding that no proper investigation was done in her son’s death case. She said that the police, in the next 14 minutes, concluded that it was a suicide and that Balaji had allegedly shot himself using a gun.
During the post-death rituals, the funeral home suggested to the family that the death didn’t look like a suicide to them. “The authorities at the funeral home said that the death was not normal and that they suspected non-suicidal aspects in the case. They suggested that we do a private autopsy,” the mother said.
Investigative journalist makes the case for murder. The death scene was strange and the apartment was ransacked. It’s all conjecture for now. He wants the case reopened.:
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